NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State women's soccer team beat IPFW, 3-0, in its final exhibition game on August 24. The game was halted with 25:36 remaining in the second half due to a thunderstorm that passed through Fort Wayne.
The Redbirds had an offensive outburst, led by their three starting forwards. Freshman Alyssa Schulz led the `Birds with 2 goals. Junior Mel Routledge had the other tally and added an assist. Sophomore Ammanda Wisniewski also chipped in an assist.
"We did a better job pressuring on the defensive end," said head coach Drew Roff. "The forwards were starting to get on the same page as the midfielders, which is something we stressed in training this week. We saw improvement in areas that we focused on in training and that is the goal in exhibition games. We are going to get some players back this week and be at full strength when the regular season starts against UW-Green Bay on Friday."
The Redbirds opened the scoring in the 27th minute. Routledge brought the ball in deep into the IPFW zone and fired a shot that hit off the post. Schulz was there to corral the rebound and score easily on an open net. Routledge did not wait long to capitalize on her missed opportunity, scoring five minutes later to give the Redbirds a 2-0 lead. Off a throw in, Wisniewski found Routledge streaking towards the goal and she beat the goalkeeper with a shot to the far corner.
Early in the second half, Schulz scored again when she sent a shot towards the goal and the IPFW goalkeeper was screened and could not make a play on it.
Sophomore Katie Grill-Donovan and freshman Courtney Blake split time in goal for Illinois State. Grill-Donovan played the first half and had one save; while Blake made one save in the rain-shortened second half.
The Redbirds open the regular season at home against UW-Green Bay on Friday, August 31, at 4 p.m. Student admission for the game is $1 and general admission is $3.
